Garbage has turned into a baggage that is gnawing at the minds of Thrissur residents.

It
has been more than a year since the dumping of the city’s garbage at
Lalur stopped. As a result, the accumulated filth has reduced the city
to a garbage dump because the corporation seems to have gone bankrupt on
ideas to find an alternative.

A walk through the
city roads is a disgusting experience, with mounds of garbage piled up
in every street corner, leaving slush and stink. Stray dogs and cattle
feasting on heaps of garbage is a common sight even in posh localities.
Flies and mosquitoes swarm over the garbage.

The
sanitation workers have put up billboards at many places stating ‘Those
who dump garbage will be penalised’. The police force in the city is
also booking those who throw waste on the streets. On Monday alone, the
shadow police have booked cases against 12 persons for dumping waste on
the roadside.

But the helpless public wants the corporation to let them know where they are to dump the household waste.

The
Corporation, however, is clueless. The civic body has opted for the
burning of garbage on streets, as an easy solution for waste management.

Sanitation
workers with bamboo-brooms and kerosene cans roaming around the city
and burning garbage heaps at street corners is a regular scene at nights
in the city these days.

How can the authorities take
punitive measures against people for dumping waste on the street
without providing any alternative arrangements, residents ask.

Meanwhile,
C.S. Sreenivasan, Standing Committee Chairman (Health) of the City
Corporation said the corporation has already started collecting plastic
waste from flats in the city.

“Organic waste from
more than 80 fruit and vegetable shops are collected by sanitation
workers and Kudumbasree members. The vegetable waste from the Sakthan
market is also being cleared every day. So far, pipe compost units have
been installed at 7,000 houses and biogas plants at 450 flats.

“Work
on the biogas plants at Panamkuttichira, Lalur, Vilvattam and Ollur are
progressing. The corporation will be able to find a lasting solution
for the garbage issue soon,” he said.